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ADDRESS 

I • 1 

TO THE 

CITIZENS OF THE UIVITEI) STATES OF AMERICA 

ON THE 

SUBJECT OF SLAVERY, 

FROM THE 

YEARLY MEETING 

OF THE 

RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS, 

(called QUAKERS) 

HELD IN NEW- YORK. 



N E W - Y O R K : 

PUBLISHED BY THE NEW-YORK YEARLY MEETING OF FRIEND! 
MAHLON DAY, PRINTER, 374 PEARL-STREET. 




^ 



1837. i 

X 

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ADDRESS 

TO THE 
CITIZENS OF THE ITNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

ON THE 

SUBJECT OF SLAVERY, 

FROM THE 

YEARLY MEETING 

OF THE 

RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS, 

(called Quakers) 
HELD IN NEW-YORK. 




NEW- YORK : 

PUBLISHED BY THE NEW-YORK YEARLY MEETING OP FRIENDS. 
MAHLON DAT, PRINTER, No. 374 PEARL-STREET. 

1837. 



ADDRESS 

TO THE 

CITIZENS OF THE ITXITED STATES OF AHLERICA. 



Impressed with the belief that it is the solemn 
duty of Christians, to do all in their power to melio- 
rate the condition of mankind, the Yearly Meeting 
of the religious Society of Friends, held in the city of 
New-York, ventures to address you on one of the 
most deeply interesting subjects, that can engage the 
attention of philanthropic minds. Abstaining, as 
we are known to do, from any participation in the 
political movements of the day, we trust that we 
shall stand acquitted of sinister motives, in making a 
few remarks on the topic of American Slavery. 
Considering the excitement which has been produced 
in the North as well as in the South, by the discus- 
sion of this very important subject ; and considering, 
also, the feeling witli which an address of this nature 
may be received by at least one portion of our 
fellow-citizens, we would gladly withhold our fee- 



ble effortSj did not our sympathy for the suffer- 
ing slaves, and our deep sense of what is required 
of us as professing Christians, imperatively demand 
that we should raise our voice against injustice and 
oppression. — We should prove faithless to the cause 
of our holy religion, and to that gracious Being who 
has bestowed his favors upon us so bountifully, were 
we to remain silent, while within the borders of our 
territory, more than two millions of human beings 
are held in servile bondage. As a society we have 
for many years been convinced, that freedom cannot 
be withheld from the slave, without militating against 
Christian principles ; and in accordance with this 
belief, we deemed it to be our duty to require, that all 
our members should be guiltless of holding property 
in their fellow men. Having broken the shackles 
of our own slaves, we felt and still feel it to be a part 
of the work allotted to us by the Supreme Judge of the 
world, that we should continue our efforts in behalf 
of the oppressed African race. We solicit, therefore, 
fellow-citizens, your patient attention to what we 
have to say on a subject which, we trust, is destined 
to be discussed in this republic, till the reproach of 
slavery shall no longer be cast upon us. 

You cannot but be aware, that of the thirteen 
millions of human beings who tread our soil, more 
than two millions are slaves ; claimed as the proper- 
ty of their fellow men, for whose exclusive benefit 
they are compelled to labor. You cannot but be 



aware, that they are so far held as goods and chattels, 
that they are hable to be transferred from one dealer 
to another, to be removed from state to state, regard- 
less of those natural feelings of affection, which bind 
men to their families, friends, and country ; that 
many thousands of those unfortunate beings, are an- 
nually sold and taken from their homes and kindred 
to distant states, there to serve without compensation, 
new and perhaps cruel masters ; that in the District 
of Columbia, which is under the exclusive control of 
Congress, Slavery and the traffic in human beings 
are tolerated, even in the very vicinity of the Capitol, 
where sit the representatives of a people who profess 
to hold freedom as the inahenable right of man. 
And being aware of these facts, will you not sanc- 
tion our efforts in behalf of the slave, and cheerfully 
contribute your aid, to effect in a peaceful and lawful 
manner, the liberation of the oppressed African ? 

The condition of our fellow men now in the gall- 
ing bonds of servitude, all must admit to be truly 
deplorable. Considered as the property of their 
masters, they are estimated in proportion to the 
value of the labor they are capable of performing ; too 
little attention is given to their happiness, and, in gen- 
eral, only so much is paid to their bodily comfort, as is 
necessary to keep them in a proper condition to per- 
form their daily tasks. As a proof that the mind of the 
negro receives but a small share of his master's 
regard, we need only refer to the existing laws pro- 
1^ 



hibiting the education of slaves, and attaching a 
penalty to the humane effort of teaching them to read. 
Thus they are reared in profound ignorance, the 
spiritual benefit derivable from the perusal of the holy 
scriptures, is withheld from them, and it is to be 
feared that great numbers die annually, who have 
never been taught by human agency that there is a 
future state of existence, or that they possess im- 
mortal souls to be saved or lost. 

Among the evils of slavery, may be reckoned the 
deleterious influence it exercises over the morals both 
of the master and the slave. We entreat you, fellow 
citizens, to consider whether the Christian religion 
in its purity, can flourish among a people, who, 
without compunction, claim and exercise exclu- 
sive control over the persons of their fellow men, re- 
quire the performance of arduous daily tasks, and 
appropriate the fruits of labor thus extorted, to their 
own benefit, regardless of the scripture declaration, 
that the laborer is worthy of his hire, and of the in- 
junction of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, " All 
things whatsoever ye would that men should do to 
you, do ye even so to them." Can those who are con- 
tent to keep their slaves in ignorance of the sacred 
writings, fully estimate their value, or appreciate the 
importance of the doctrines contained in the New 
Testament ? It is contrary to the very nature of 
things, that they should entertain a high regard for 
the Gospel of Christ, while in the maintenance of 
slavery, they violate its spirit. If the religion of a 



slave-holding community is thus seriously aflected by 
this enormous evil, how can it be expected that the 
morality of that community should be preserved un- 
impaired ? How can it be supposed that the domes- 
tic relations of the slaves will be respected by the mas- 
ters, or by the slaves themselves, who, from their want 
of mental improvement, cannot properly estimate the 
sanctity of the marriage covenant, or be aware of the 
restraint it is designed to impose. By destroying the 
moral principle of the bondman, slavery urges him 
to intemperance, theft, and other vices ; and to such a 
state of debasement dees it reduce him, that he can 
hardly be reclaimed by the force of example, or by 
persuasion. He becomes addicted to licentiousness 
in all its forms, and being destined by his hard lot, to 
live and toil for the ease and luxury of others, and 
accustomed to be governed and controlled with much 
severity, he regards it as his highest enjoyment, to 
escape the allotted task, and to surrender himself a 
prey to the leading of his unbridled passions. 

It would seem to be unnecessary to adduce argu- 
ments in proof of the sinfulness of Slavery. The 
christian world proclaims it, and we cannot en- 
tertain so poor an opinion of our countrymen, as to 
suppose there are many among them who honestly 
believe that Slavery is not a positive evil of an ag- 
gravated character. 

Whatever difference of sentiment there may be as 
to the practicability of emancipating the Slaves, all, 
it is hoped, concur in the wish, that Slavery had no 
existence within our borders. 



8 

If we thought it could be considered justifiable by 
any in the Northern States, we would point to that 
portion of the celebrated Declaration of IndependencCj 
wherein the noble sentiment is expressed, that " all 
men are created equals and endowed by their Creator 
with certain inalienable rights, that among these, are 
life, liberty^ and the pursuit of happiness." As that 
document has received the unqualified approval of 
the American people, how can the slave-holding por- 
tion of our brethren, reconcile their confessed appro- 
bation of that passage, with their favorable opinion 
of Slavery ? We might also point to the several laws 
of Congress, prohibiting the importation of Slaves, 
and imposing the penalty due to piracy, on every 
person detected in that nefarious traffic. If the in- 
troduction of Slaves is considered by Congress a 
crime of so deep a dye, as to merit death, how can it 
be maintained that it is not sinful, to hold in servi- 
tude those already in the country ? — Or who can 
show an essential difference in principle, between car- 
rying Slaves across the Atlantic, which is punishable 
with death, and driving them from their homes and 
friends in one state, to be sold to strangers in another ? 
If the intervention of Congress was necessary in one 
case, it surely is in the other ; and we ask you, fellow- 
citizens, seriously to reflect on the moral degradation, 
the mental as well as physical suffering produced by 
this internal trading in human flesh, which we con- 
sider no less disgraceful, and not less deserving the 
immediate attention of our national legislature, than 
the foreign Slave Trade. 



We might proceed to enumerate many prominent 
evils resulting from Slavery, and refer, as one pernici- 
ous consequence, to the habits of indolence it engen- 
ders, among those who depend on the labor of Slaves, 
the baneful effects of which are so obvious to all who 
have the opportunity of contrasting the Northern and 
the Southern States ; but we base our abhorrence of 
Slavery, chiefly on its Sinfulness, standing as it 
does, opposed to the divine principles of the christian 
religion. We have tried this system by the gospel of 
our holy Redeemer, and we have found that it har- 
monizes with none of its precepts ; but that it con- 
flicts with the teachings of Him who came into the 
world, emphatically the friend of the poor and the 
oppressed. 

A distinguished statesman of our country, one who 
was himself a slave-holder, and fully acquainted with 
tlie condition of the bondman under the most favor- 
fihje circumstancesj in speaking of Slavery, held the 
following memorable language : " 1 tremble for my 
country when 1 reflect that God is just — that his justice 
cannot sleep forever ; that, considering numbers, na- 
ture, and natural means only, an exchange of situa^ 
tions is among possible events ; that it may become 
probable by supernatural interference. The Almighty 
has no attribute which can take side with us in such 
a contest." 

Among the individual and national sins, for which 
the American people are now sustaining severe and 
almost unparalleled distress, may we not give to Slave- 



10 

ry a conspicuous place ? Who can contemplate the in- 
creased traffic in our fellow-men during the last three 
years, without feeling the conviction that Heaven 
has at length interposed to assert the rights of the 
Slave, and to punish us for our crimes. 

It is our wish, in thus addressing you, to awaken 
the minds of those who have reflected but little on 
the subject, to a just appreciation of its importance ; 
not to suggest any mode by which the abolition of 
slavery should be effected. We are aware of the 
difficulties which start up in the way of emancipa- 
tion ; we are perfectly aware hov/ closely the evil en- 
twines itself with the relations of society at the 
South : but we do not despair that the all-w^ise 
Disposer of Events, will, in his own time, open a 
way for the accomplishment of this most desirable 
object. We trust that not many more years of suf- 
fering will be permitted to pass, before he shall impress 
the minds of all our countrymen with the turpitude 
of Slavery, and inspire their hearts with that wisdom 
which is requisite to devise a proper remedy for the 
greatest of our social maladies. 

We hope, fellow-citizens, that such of you as have 
not already devoted a portion of your time and atten- 
tion to this stain upon our national character, will 
henceforth exert yourselves in a cause which has the 
strongest claims upon your sympathies, as Americans, 
freemen, and Christians. — Let us not bs behind the 
philanthropists of the old world in our efforts to raise 
t,he oppressed negro to the station that he should oc^ 



11 

cupy as a member of the great human family, and to 
wipe from the Christian name, a blot that has too long 
been permitted to dim its lustre. 

Signed by direction and on behalf of the Yearly 
Meeting of the Religious Society ^of Friends, 
aforesaid, held in New- York by adjournments, 
from the 29th of the 5th Month, to the 2d of 
the 6th Month, inclusive, 1837. 

SAMUEL PARSONS, Clerk. 



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